Let this be a recorded statement for the deceased. I am a doctor,
am I not? I must look on such things in a way as my profession
dictates, and record all. There is no way to account for the time
of death, nor can I give an accurate description of cause, save
to say that the blood loss has stemmed from a deep gash in the
upper chest area where the marking of the rose was located. The
blade missed the heart, yet severed the carotid artery as well as
the cranial vena cava. Death occurred within a minute at the
most. Suffering level within the short span of time:
Excruciating. I shall keep this last note to myself, however, for
the Lord seems more distraught about this than I could have
guessed. He had been near frantic at the realization of his
actions, and to think any further on this event may well be
precursory to a descent into madness.

There is little more that can be done at this point. I have
cleaned away the remaining blood that did not find it's way into
the pool at the altar's base, and have dressed the wounds in
preparation for a possible funeral on the grounds. Perhaps the
rose garden within the courtyard would provide a fitting
backdrop. Still, I dare not talk about such in front of the Lord.
His wrath is swift as is, and I do not dare invoke it on the
brink of sorrow.

Perhaps it would be best to remove him from this place. He stares
at the deceased too intently. Does he believe that sheer will
alone may yet rouse her from eternal slumber?

I speak much too soon.

How?! How can this be? How is it that the body shudders in
death?! This is magic, surely. Illusion and false hope!
No...Nicolae? Be this Nicolae's doing?! He couldn't...he wouldn't
dare! He couldn't attempt to take physical form through her!

The Lord's visage betrays a mingling range of baffled and furious
emotion. It would be best to take up arms.

Damn Nicolae for this...

- Tuomas

...

Immortal Rose's Journal

All was black. I felt strange, suspended as it were, in a void.
Nothing above or below save for shadows and silence.

And him.

He snarled in adamant fury as he started toward me, head lowered
in menace.

"Ye think it is so easy to escape my grasp? Ye seek safety in
death? Foolish, foolish woman! Not even death itself can save
you! Mine curse is still upon you. See? The mark still lies upon
thy flesh."

He paused a moment to chuckle, raising his head up in an
authorative sneer.

"Ye shall not breath thy last till I will it. Thine heart shall
not cease till I deem it time. This act of sacrificial slaughter
was mercy, yet I...I will make you suffer! Ye shall know pain, be
wedded to it. Ye shall beg me to end it, plead and grovel before
me yet! I shall see to it. And to that end, this!"

Here, he lowered his head once more and charged against me. His
right hand thrust forward, fingernails sharp as daggers as they
buried deep into the spot of the dagger's wicked death wound. The
seering pain tore through me as though the hand itself were made
of fire. Indeed, it even glowed like burning coals as he ripped
it free.

I stumbled away, not being able to hold back the agonized cry
that seemed to be pulled from my very soul. I felt my heart
throbbing back to life, the dull aching of the senses returning
with a vengeance. The void was fading, even as his laughter
resounded harsh and tormenting in my ears.

"I give thee life once again so that I may rip thine soul out at
the last!"

The emptiness of the void left, and all senses assaulted me in
life once more. I became painfully aware of aches all through my
body. The deep wound where the dagger had found it's sheath in my
flesh, the stiffness of my limbs on the cold, hard stone of the
altar. The blinding glow of the crystals and the chilling air in
that room. All this, and the din of voices at my ear, calling me
urgently as their faces searched mine in earnest.

They were confused, and rightly so. Expressions of relief blended
seamlessly with questioning, sorrow, and disbelief. I looked back
at them, doing all in my power to face them fully without
unnecessary movement. The Lord was the first to speak.

"By the gods.... the Rose of Immortality!"

Was that what I had become? Was I truly immortal now? No, not
immortal. Lucky at best, if such a thing could be considered
luck.